Round Table: Favorite Bledsoe Moment

What is your favorite Drew Bledsoe Moment?

Stephen:  To be honest, my memories of the Patriots mostly date back to only Tom Brady as I didn’t start watching football until I was 9 or 10 right when Brady took over for Bledsoe.

Jason: This is an easy one for me. I was a Bledsoe fan even before he was drafted by New England, so I was extremely disappointed when he got hurt early in the 2001 season. When Bledsoe returned to replace an injured Brady in the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers, nothing brought me more pleasure than watching Bledsoe step in and finish his first drive with a TD pass to help the Patriots earn a spot in the Super Bowl.

Rick:  My favorite Drew Bledsoe moment of all-time has to be in the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers back in 2002. Tom Brady goes down in the 2nd quarter, but we had the one veteran back-up quarterback who was not bitter about taking a back seat to Tom and just be ready whenever he is needed. Without his touchdown to David Patten to end the 1st half, the game could have gone the other way. As a little kid, my parents will tell you my first few words were Bledsoe. My family thought I would switch to being a Bills fan when he got traded the following year, but I stuck with Brady and the Patriots. Drew didn’t win the big game as a starter, but with his 40,000+ passing yards and from what all he did with New England, he is not only a Patriots’ Hall of Famer, but should be in the NFL HALL OF FAME!

Derek:  The 2001 AFC Champtionship game is clearly the easy answer to this quesiton.  It was a complete storybook ending to Bledsoe’s career with New England.  However, I’m going to mix things up a bit and rewind a little further back.  I was far more NBA-focused in the 90’s and didn’t have the Sunday Ticket, so I can’t rattle off every single game for the Patriots back then like I can during the Brady/Belichick era.  However, there are a few games that do stick out in my mind and most of those are playoff games.   However, I distinctly remember a game in 1998 vs. the Buffalo Bills.  The team was hovering around .500 at the time, and the Bills were still decent, so this game was pretty important.  I remember I was eating at a steakhouse with my family and the game was on.  The Pats lost theh lead late in the game, with seconds left, I believe.  Bledsoe threw a hail mary to Terry Glenn, which wasn’t caught, but pass interference was called.  With almost no time left on the clock, from the 1-yard line, Bledsoe hit Ben Coates for the go-ahead TD.  I was in this semi-fancy restaurant and went bezerk.  My parents were not amused.  Just a great Bledsoe moment from when he was the starting QB on the Pats.